Gary Crooks: Trump poses unique challenge for media

How do you cover a president like Donald Trump? Rather than hold press conferences, he tweets, orchestrates rallies and favors solicitous hosts when he agrees to the occasional interview.

Many of his supporters applaud his communication style, saying it bypasses the mainstream media filter. That’s one way to look at it. Another is that it allows him to duck substantive questions. He hasn’t held a press conference since July.

So far, when Trump tweets, reporters react – adding context and explanations that he leaves out. Then Trump bashes those articles.

It’s hard to see how this can be sustainable, but Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the New York Times last week, “President-elect Trump has amassed an incredible social media following, one he used very effectively throughout the campaign to communicate his message. He intends to continue utilizing this modern form of communication, while taking into account his new role and responsibilities may call for modified usage.”

Good call on modified usage, because no item was too trivial for pre-election Trump. It’s one thing for a citizen Trump to argue that “The Apprentice” was better than “Shark Tank.” It’s quite another for the commander-in-chief to do so.

I recommend following Trump on Twitter to gauge his interests and temperament, but it does pose a conundrum. Is every tweet newsworthy? What if he’s doing it to distract reporters from other stories? And here’s another complication: Journalists take him at his word; his supporters may not.

That’s what former campaign manager and media surrogate Corey Lewandowski said Thursday at a post-election symposium at Harvard.

“This is the problem with the media,” Lewandowski said. “You guys took everything that Donald Trump said so literally. The American people didn’t. They understood it. They understood that sometimes, when you have a conversation with people, whether it’s around the dinner table or at a bar, you’re going to say things, and sometimes you don’t have all the facts to back it up.”

So after eight years of quoting President Obama (“You can keep your coverage”), it will be unfair to quote Trump? I would love to hear from his supporters on how they decode his comments and plan to hold him accountable.

JOB INTERVIEW? President-Elect Trump did agree to an interview last week with the hard-hitting Sean Hannity. Hard-hitting, that is, if the target is journalists. Hannity recently said:

“Maybe Donald Trump should rethink how he deals with media. Why should CNN have a seat in the White House press room? Why should NBC have a seat there? Why should the New York Times have a seat there, or Politico? They all think they’re journalists, they’re all full of crap, and they’ve all been exposed.”

Looks like someone is angling for that press secretary job.

TWITTER WARS. What if all political leaders employed the Trump strategy of tweeting their agendas and ignoring press inquiries?

Would you be comfortable with, say, Mayor David Condon tweeting about City Council meetings, and council members tweeting back? No media filter, just little info snacks:

David Condon: “@benstuckart I see that Crooked City Council is lying about my budget again. Totally unfair!”

Ben Stuckart: “@davidcondon Your craven, crony authoritarianism won’t Make Spokane Great Again! Sad!”

8th Man: “@davidcondon @benstuckart Not a single penny for that BRIDGE TO HOOKERVILLE!”

S-R: “@davidcondon @benstuckart Could we get a comment on the budget?”

Condon, Stuckart: “@S-R Failing Spokesman-Review, with another unfair attack!”

Yeah, I can’t see it. Best to confine this to the tweeter of the free world.

Opinion Editor Gary Crooks can be reached at garyc@spokesman.com or (509) 459-5026. Follow him on Twitter @GaryCrooks.